Stripped Away
by The Bloody Countess
Summary: Clark and Lois are assigned to write and expose a drug ring operating a new strip club in Metropolis. Lois infiltrates the club as a stripper, and Clark gets the shock of his life when he realizes his partner isn't as awkward with the pole as before.


**AN:** My first foray into the Smallville fandom. Please don't hurt me. I don't own the characters or the lyrics to Bad Romance. I do own the idea to the fic, though. Post-HEX, Perry White included. And there's no tension between Chloe and Jimmy here, they're happily married. So it's slightly AU.

**SUMMARY:** Clark and Lois are assigned to write and expose a drug ring operating a new strip club in Metropolis. Lois infiltrates the club as a stripper, Chloe and Jimmy decide to try and give them a little nudge and Clark gets the shock of his life when he realizes that his partner isn't as awkward with the pole as the first time.

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* * *

  
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"Lane! Kent! In my office! Now!"

Perry White's voice boomed over the clacking of keys and the hum of printers and fax machines that was the _Daily Planet_. It never ceased to amaze Clark how their Editor-In-Chief's voice could carry over such a din as his colleagues scrambled about with their own deadlines every single day. He certainly didn't have to use his super hearing; Perry was like a foghorn in the newsroom that everybody called 'The Bullpen'.

He caught Lois rolling her eyes as she stood up from her chair and he gave her a reproachful look. "You know Perry's going to call you on that, Lois," he teased.

"Smallville, I have been writing one too many fluff pieces in the last week. I'm **not** going to sit and write another one. It's the counterfeiting story or nothing. I'm pulling all the stops."

The tone of her voice was brittle and decisive and Clark knew that Lois was already sharpening her knives for the nth round of her debates with Perry. She always felt the need to go with her gut, no matter how much trouble that would get her into and at every opportunity she'd take it up with their boss. Wiser individuals steered clear of the Lane Wrath, but Clark Kent was a special case who often stepped in to try and ride damage control — thereby earning the silent respect and admiration of their colleagues who thought that the mild-mannered reporter had to be extremely brave to the point of stupidity when it came to his partner. He was the only other person who managed to deal with Lois Lane and emerge relatively unharmed. The other person was Perry White.

And while Clark knew that they were all professionals, he could detect that underneath the gruff exterior of Perry White was someone who worried about Lois Lane like a father would his own daughter. Which was why he'd given her some of the safer assignments last week to give Lois a chance to take a break from the dangers she willingly put herself through. Clark swallowed hard when he remembered how his partner had been at the hands of a deranged terrorist just a month ago when she was working on a story. He'd been so terrified at the thought of losing her that he had come pretty close to having blood on his hands when he'd rescued her and wanted to break every bone in that psycho's body.

"Lois, you almost got killed by a mob leader two weeks ago! You were held hostage by a terrorist barely a month ago," he was quick to point out as they stopped outside Perry's office. "Can't you at least wait another week for all the excitement to die down before you give everybody a heart attack again?"

His suggestion was met with a dismissive wave of her hand and a rather unladylike snort the one that meant she thought he was exaggerating. "The news waits for nobody, Smallville." Lois turned the knob and opened the door, ready to lock horns again. She barely missed Clark's long-suffering sigh as he stepped in and closed the door behind them.

"Don't sigh like that, Farmboy. You're not my mother," she sneered, even as Clark schooled his features in an all-too innocent mask as he turned his attention to Perry. He certainly hadn't picked up on a few things in the five years they'd known each other for nothing, after all. Occasionally humoring Lois was one of them.

Perry White tossed the latest issue of the Daily Planet news on his desk and stood up, regarding Lois with a frown. "I suppose you're going to tell me why I should give you the counterfeit ring story," he remarked in a gruff voice, crossing his arms. Lois mirrored the gesture and just when she opened her mouth and launch off with that extensive list she'd already made in her head, he cut her off. "I gave it to Bob, so you can save yourself the trouble."

If Lois was irritated earlier, she was fast approaching outrage now. Clark could almost hear the wheels in her head turning and knew there was a mile-long tirade that was just at the tip of her tongue. He masked his amusement with a cough, barely restraining himself from grinning when Lois turned to glare at him for a moment and then avert her gaze back to Perry.

"Chief, **why** would you do that?" she demanded. "I've been insisting that it was a good story and I was going to cover it and now you assign it to Bob? The guy doesn't even ask the right questions! He'll pee in his pants at the slightest hint of intimidation!"

"Well, it's time he learns and gets his feet wet, Lane! And you can't do a thing about it. Now give it a rest or I'll be giving you fluff pieces for the rest of the year."

Lois wanted to protest to that but wisely closed her mouth. It was horrifying enough to picture herself building a career on fluff pieces. That was more of Smallville's specialty.

"Nice to know you have so much faith in me," Clark intoned dryly and Lois realized that she had just said that out loud. She smiled a little too sweetly at him before mouthing 'naturally'.

Perry held up a hand to stop them from another round of verbal sparring and cleared his throat. "There's a new club downtown, kids. And we got a tip that it may be a cover for drug dealers." He caught that gleam in Lois's eyes. "And since the esteemed Miss Lane here has a propensity for trouble, this is going to be a two-man job. Congratulations, Lane. Kent's writing this story with you."

"............**WHAT**?!"

Clark sighed again and this time, he rolled his eyes. Well, that hadn't taken too long for her to get so worked up. Perry, however, seemed to think that it was the end of a discussion and had turned his back on them indicating that it was time for them to get out of his office and do their jobs. Clamping a hand over Lois's mouth, he said a quick 'thanks' and hauled Lois bodily out of the office to avoid bloodshed.

Once they were outside, he put her down, wincing a little when she elbowed him in the ribs. "This is—"

"—totally unfair," Clark finished for her, ignoring her frosty glare. "Of course it is, Lois, but he has a point. It's going to be really dangerous."

Hazel eyes narrowed at him. "The whole point of getting a good scoop is charging right in _regardless_ of the danger, Smallville. Go over the frame again." Then just as quickly as her temper had flared, she let out a soft snicker and gave him a playful punch on the shoulder before walking back to her desk.

He felt the heat rise to his cheeks at the mention of that scrap of paper he had framed as a memento and he wished he'd been much quicker on the uptake when Zatanna had hexed Chloe. Giving Lois this much ammunition was a danger in its own right especially where his growing feelings for her were concerned. His origins made it possible for him to be immune to nearly everything, except love and Kryptonite. Lois probably wasn't even aware of the effect her teasing had on him and Clark was always reduced to tongue-tied, awkward school kid when she did these things.

"_One day, you'll cave in, __Clark__. This crazy dance you two are doing is just going to build up more frustration if you let it go on like this. Maybe it's time to give yourself another chance at happiness...maybe the both of you need another chance at happiness..." _

Chloe's words from their last talk still weighed heavily on his mind, but he felt it wasn't that simple. No matter how much he wanted to straighten things out and just lay all his cards on the table, he was also afraid that he could say something that would scare Lois. She had said so herself that she wasn't about to let her heart get broken again and the walls she put up were sometimes impossible to crack. Even if he did try to tear one wall down, there would be another one and he'd memorized her body language enough by now to realize that if there was something she didn't want to discuss, nobody on this earth could get her to talk.

"Better to just focus on here and now," he mumbled to himself as he went to the coffee machine to get Lois another cup.

* * *

How was it that he managed to get himself in these things? Clark bit the inside of his cheek as he squeezed into the cramped closet with Lois. This was exactly what Perry meant by trouble and he told her so.

"Just shut up or you'll get us both killed!" she hissed back, clamping a hand over his mouth as she strained to listen to the discussion that was going on outside. Following up a lead from one of her many sources, they'd been able to track down some people to a meeting being held in one of the many warehouses by the pier. And in her usual Lane flair, she'd decided to find out more much to Clark's dismay and walked into the office to snoop around a little.

And of course that was how they ended up inside an extremely cramped broom closet.

He removed her hand and glared at her, even as he tightened his arm around her waist so she wouldn't lose her balance and make any unnecessary noise. "As I recall, it wasn't me who dismissed the suggestion of leaving before we got caught," he whispered, gritting his teeth when he realized their proximity and he held his breath, hoping that the morons would leave soon enough. He'd heard quite a fair bit (wasn't that difficult, they were rather loud to begin with) about the next shipment and Clark supposed that meant the drugs. It would have been easier to just take down all of them, but that would mean exposing his secret and he wasn't sure he was ready to do that.

Luck seemed to be on their side for some reason because the room was soon vacated and Clark soon heard their van driving off. "Thank God..." he murmured, closing his eyes and exhaling sharply before looking down at Lois. "You and danger seem to be very good friends, Lane."

In the dark, he could see her mouth opening to snap back some witty comment at him but her eyes were wide and staring and then he realized...

...that he hadn't let go of her just yet.

His face flushed and he let her go abruptly, clearing his throat as she squeezed past him to open the door and walk quickly out. His heart was still thumping wildly as he followed her.

_Crap._


End file.
